ESPN’s “Ariel Helwani MMA Show” this week turned into a bit of a showcase for a bunch of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight fighters eager to face reigning — and defending — division champion T.J. Dillashaw in his next fight. Raphael Assuncao made his case, as did new flyweight champ Henry Cejudo. But, no one did a better job than Dominick Cruz, whose position is bolstered by the win he already holds over Dillashaw. ”I’m still right there, very relevant regardless of the multiple injuries I’ve had over my career,” Cruz said. “I think everybody in the world knows I’m very relevant and probably the only guy in the world who would beat him in the division. ”Right now T.J. Dillashaw is speaking what he chooses to make relevant, which is trying to make his case as the best bantamweight,” he continued. “The problem is, I beat him already. You can’t be the best unless you beat the guy that beat you. It’s common sense, everyone in the world knows that including him. Let’s be honest: He does not want to deal with that right now, he would rather wait and see if he can get away from it.”

The unspoken way that Dillashaw would get away from it? Via Cruz retiring because of injuries. Unfortunately for Dillashaw, that doesn’t sound like it’s happening. In fact, Cruz sounds ready to return later this year.

“I feel 100 percent in training, I’ve been cleared for three weeks now,” he said. “I feel great and I’m looking for a fight toward the end of the fall, toward fall time.”

Why should he fight tj ? So he could possibly win and be out on injury for 2 years. Fuck that. Cock sucker hasn’t fought since Cody boxed his head off.

Tj had to beat assuanco and John lineker to get back to the title.

Fuck Dominick Cruz.

killashaw vs Marlon Moraes is the fight I want to see.

Love that fuckin fight.

There’s Absolutely no reason why Cruz shouldn’t fight assuanco. He should stfu with all of his smart ass analysis thinking he knows everything and has all the answers. I think fucking TJ torches him in a rematch.

People are too quick to jump bandwagons. Cruz still has a better resume than TJ. What with Cruz having already beat TJ fairly recently how can you argue TJ is truly better? They must rematch to claim the undisputed title of best BW.

ebickmeyer wrote:People are too quick to jump bandwagons. Cruz still has a better resume than TJ. What with Cruz having already beat TJ fairly recently how can you argue TJ is truly better? They must rematch to claim the undisputed title of best BW.

Cruz is an uptight narcissist. He's not half as good as he sounds anymore and if he faced any top 3 I see him getting smoked. How he won the TJ fight is still way beyond my comprehension. Marlon Moraes is the guy to watch right now. That boy is one vicious mofo and when he fights TJ, its gonna be bloody.

dipset52 wrote:Tj had to beat assuanco and John lineker to get back to the title.

killashaw vs Marlon Moraes is the fight I want to see.

There’s Absolutely no reason why Cruz shouldn’t fight assuanco.

100% AGREE with you. Dominick should have to get TWO impressive wins to get another shot at that belt.

Cody Garbrandt ....maybe THREE impressive wins. I mean he got stopped twice in a row by TJ, there are no looming questions about who is the better man at this point. Maybe in a couple years it would be fun to see them square off again, but Cody is still young/growing and he needs to forget about reamatching TJ for now.

And YES, Marlon Moraes is the guy that deserves the next shot, man I cannot wait to see that fight!

I don't think there's been a point in the last 5-7 years that Cruz has been the clear cut best BW.The barao fight is the closest thing we got to Couture/Fedor in the lower weight class and while TJ showed how that fight may have gone we still wont ever know.After that TJ and Cody were and are clearly as good if not better.Bibi lit up the scene outside of north America, all of these fighters were posed as what ifs? to doms reign.He was never Aldo.I do believe TJ, next to maybe Robert Whitaker, is the absolute most evolved and ever growing fighters in mma today. I personally would like to see Dom with a fresh face, I think Moraes deserves a shot at the belt based purely off his past performance if not him than lienker.Dom can fight someone like lienker or Moraes as well. I could be wrong but it's just hard to see Dom coming back as the best, its arguable he'll even be considered the best BW ever in the grand scheme of things.

When engaged in combat, the vanquishing of thine enemy can be the warrior's only concern. Suppress all human emotion and compassion. Kill whoever stands in thy way, even if that be Lord God or Buddha himself.